Former NBA commissioner David Stern is getting bored, according to his friends, and they’re urging him to take on a new challenge—replacing the unpopular Bill De Blasio as mayor of New York City.
“He’s pretty bored. He’s always been interested in politics, and he’s always been interested in running for office,” one source told Yahoo.
Another source said his popularity with minorities would be an advantage.
“He’s tough as nails. He’s popular with the black community. New York would be lucky to have him as mayor.”
Stern said he’s not interested in running, but it got us to thinking how the four current commissioners of the major sports would handle the duties of being the Big Apple’s mayor. Here are the rankings.
4. Roger Goodell, NFL
Goodell’s become a punching bag and for pretty good reason. He manhandled the Ray Rice domestic violence saga, suspending him for a pathetic two games before panicking, increasing it to a ridiculous degree, and then getting pummeled in court for it.
He’s viewed by players and fans as Draconian in his punishments for minor offenses like uniform violations and touchdown celebrations, but deviously light on suspensions for owners who commit DUIs with drugs in their car.
He isn’t exactly killing it on “Deflategate” either. Letting a controversy about slightly deflated footballs be strung out for more than half a year is absurd enough, but he may actually lose in court and have to repeal Tom Brady’s suspension, even though it is written into the CBA that he has the power to do exactly that.
The other side of the equation is that his real goal is to be the public face of the greedy things owners do, withstand the bullets, and make money. He’s been exceedingly successful in that regard. Since politicians generally serve those who put them in power, Goodell could actually make a case for No. 1! But nope. He’s the worst.
3. Gary Bettman, NHL
Bettman has actually done a nice job with the NHL of late. He’s tweaked their playoff format, and while it’s pretty confusing for casual fans to digest, the games are awesome and it increases the rivalry aspect of the game. The NHL’s postseason is the best postseason, and Bettman’s willingness to embrace new things is part of that.
He has also seen three! work stoppages during his tenure, which doesn’t bode well for his ability to handle New York’s strong unions. He’s not much for compromising it seems. He also has proven stubborn when it comes to forcing the NHL on warm-weather markets. Fans don’t care about the Florida Panthers, and they didn’t care about the Atlanta Thrashers. The Phoenix/Arizona? Coyotes are so nondescript that most people just forget where they play. His expansion efforts are the sports equivalent of trying to make “fetch” happen.
2. Rob Manfred, MLB
Manfred has been commissioner for less than a full calendar year, but he’s already making baseball fun again. His first moves were to enforce speed of the game rules, making formerly interminable games quicker. He’s continued the crusade against steroids, and the depressed offense has also helped games move along.
He seems open to new ideas, which is always good, and he has had the intelligence to promote young, exciting players like Mike Trout (Angels), Giancarlo Stanton (Marlins), and even controversial ones like Yasiel Puig (Dodgers). Making baseball cool is of the utmost importance. The real test of his mettle will be next year though, when the league and players union begin talks on a new CBA.
1. Adam Silver, NBA
Basketball is the most popular of these sports globally, and Silver has taken the ball from Stern and run with it. He’s promoting the hell out of the league’s superstars, and there’s more of them than the Association has seen in years.
He’s super open-minded to change. Silver has discussed tweaking the playoff format to de-emphasize division winners, and potentially even do away with conference seeding in favor of taking the 16 best records in the league and letting that be the playoff pool. Under Silver’s watch even the tired Slam Dunk Contest is seeing a revival, while the 3-point shooting contest is the new “must-watch” event.
Finally, he stood up to former Clippers owner Donald Sterling, a long-tenured billionaire, and told him to get the f**k out of the league for making racist comments. Silver earned a ton of kudos for that and rightfully so. He hasn’t made any bad moves yet, and he rules powerfully, but fairly. So maybe he should actually be last on this list.
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